“I knew my rent was gon’ be late about a week ago/I worked my ass off, but I still can’t pay it though/But I got just enough to get up in this club/Have me a good time, before my time is up…”
I’m sorry, what?
I’ve heard this song, “Time of Our Lives,” quite a few times on the radio, but I never really listened to the lyrics until recently. I immediately thought, “Who thought THAT was a good idea to put on the radio?”
Maybe this is more apparent to me, because I am about to go into the world where I have to pay rent and bills and all that jazz, but part of me wants to call up Ne-Yo and Pitbull to tell them what a terribly idea this song was.
Not that either of these two probably ever have to worry about paying rent, but one of the things you have to learn when you’re a real adult is that you need to pay to live before you can pay to have fun.
You can always go out and have fun; the bar will always be there the next weekend after you pay your rent.
What happens when you decide to go out and drink instead of paying rent/bills/ whatever is that you wake up the next day and you still have to pay for stuff.
Some people say that the time to have fun and not worry about responsibilities is during your college years, but we also should learn to develop the ability to buckle down and not spend all of our money once we get it.
Sure paying rent sucks and so does paying bills and not going out and partying, but that’s part of growing up.
Unless you’ve budgeted well enough so that you can pay what you need to pay and go out and have fun, you should probably stay in for the night.
Most of us are above the age where we’re terribly influenced by the songs we hear on the radio, but just in case it was never explained to you throughout your college career, if you can’t afford to pay for what you need to have, like a place to sleep at night, you probably can’t afford to go out.
This is what I have to say to Ne-Yo and Mr. Worldwide/Mr. 305/ Pitbull, I doubt that you’ve recently had a circumstance where you had to worry about whether to pay rent or go out and have fun because, let’s face it, you’re probably pretty wealthy.
That being said, our culture doesn’t need more encouragement to avoid our responsibilities and just do whatever we want.
And maybe if you take a couple of weekends off from going out, next time you won’t be late with your rent.
KHADIJA DJELLOULI
Lynda • Jan 2, 2022 at 5:21 pm
Well sweety, you’re ahead of the game. I tell my kiddos that songs are like movies, they’re not real they are all fantasies and not to be tried or mimicked, or taken seriously. They are usually a story combining mistakes made by them and/or others, and the rest is hyped up fiction. I tell my kiddos that these artists writing these songs and movies/shows do not live like that, they are not partying all the time, they are working their butts off making these songs, videos, movies, etc., from before dawn to way past dusk and are acting out things they wish they had time to do, I mean, who doesn’t wanna party and have fun all the time? But not possible if you wanna be successful and independent, etc. All of this is for entertainment only, and for those people that don’t know the difference, there are the consequences that they will pay, and that’s one thing thats for sure, there are always consequences, it’s the one thing you can count on. So for those that are confused between entertainment and lifestyle, will quickly learn the lesson, hopefully. Almost all successful singers and actors don’t even like going to parties, or having them, they’re too tired. They only attend because there’s some promotional advantage for them. They don’t even live like that! I really like what you said and that you totally get it. Maybe others just starting out will see your message that music, videos and movies/shows are for entertainment only, even reality shows are not real. Good on you! Your parents or whomever raised you should be very proud of you! I see much success in your future!